If you had a photo removed from our pool, you can inquire about the reasoning for that here. Please understand that this is a very large group and it's rather tiresome for the admins to notify each offender individually.

Check out the group icon history! The group icon is updated every 24 hours or so. The person whose photo is currently on as the icon gets to choose the next photo to be displayed. All of these selections are posted in this thread.

Check out our group founder, Chris Maverick, as well as Stephen Poff, who was doing this project before the group existed and inspired Mav to begin this group. Together they host the 365 Days Video Podcast once a week which includes tips and tutorials (and photography in general) as well as interviews with 365 members and a picture of the week feature. Please check it out!

Group Rules

The 365 Days group is a project in which members submit one self portrait each day for a year.

All of the rules are right there in that one sentence, but it seems to confuse so many folks, so we'll elaborate a bit:

A self portrait is a photo of yourself taken by you - it is not a photo of you taken by someone else and it is not a photo of something you hold near and dear to your heart. Please don't try to interpret 'self portrait' into something drastically different than what it is.

You are only allowed to submit one photo for each day. Only one. Feel free to do whatever you want to do within your own 365 Days set, but only send one to the pool.

You should plan on taking a shot every day for a year. If you miss one or two days, that's fine. If your camera breaks and you miss an entire month, we're not gonna kick you out. But if you take a self portrait once every five weeks and send it to this group along with every other self portrait group on Flickr, your photo will be removed.

Most likely, any further questions you may have can be found below. If you do not find the answer to your question listed here, feel free to create a thread or send a message to any admin.

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On What Photos Are Allowed

What counts as a self portrait?

The main thing is that you are both the photographer and the subject. For the purposes of this group, any photo which you took that contains any part of your body counts. Photos of things that are 'very important to you' are fine, as long as part of your body is included within the frame. Taking a photo of your daily planner, your desk, your child, etc. with a detailed explanation about how it's an extension of your body does not count as a self portrait and will be removed from the pool.

What about photos of shadows, footprints in the sand/snow, and reflections?

It was decided early on that shots of your shadow, impressions left in sand or snow, and reflections on surfaces such as a faucet or even a mirror are acceptable forms of self portraits. However, anybody making a habit of these kinds of self portraits will be reviewed and removed from the group if they are found to be doing a 365 Day Shadow project (or anything along those lines).

What about taking a shot of an old photo?

If you would like to show off an older photo of you for one of your 365 Days shots, please ensure that part of your body today is included in the shot. For instance, a shot of you holding the old photo is acceptable. A shot of an old photo in a frame on your desk is not allowed.

What assistance is allowed?

You can use tripods, timers, or whatever else you need just as long as you take a photo yourself. There is great debate as to whether having another person push the button for you is cheating or not. If you feel that having a 'glorified remote' is acceptable, please bare in mind that if that person makes any calls as to positioning in the frame or does anything else aside from pushing the button, you're losing a lot of what a self portrait is. And by all means, if you do decide to use someone to push the button for you, you shouldn't make an announcement about it in the description of your photo. If you feel that they need to be mentioned because they deserve credit too, then your photo most definitely is not a self portrait.

Can I use image editing software?

Of course! This is digital photography!

Is nudity allowed?

Nudity is allowed within the group; however, any photos of a sexual nature with the intent to arouse the viewer will be seen as porn and removed by the admin. We understand that there is a very fuzzy gray line between 'artistic nude' and 'pornography', but admin reserves the right to remove any nude photos that lean further to the pornography side from the pool. Any questionable photos should be brought to the attention of the admin either through private message or through an announcement in the floaters thread.

On Multiple Photos and Missing Days

What if I have more than one photo I'd like to submit for a given day?

Unfortunately with the design of the group, multiple photos for a given day are not allowed. If you would like to use multiple photos or simply wish to draw more attention to the collection, you can either create a mosaic or link to the additional photos in the description of the one which you did choose. Anyone who posts more than a single photo for a given day will have the extra photos removed - repeatedly abusing this rule will result in your removal from the group.

What if I can't post for several days?

Sometimes people go on vacation or experience extended periods of time without power. In these instances, it is ok to upload multiple photos given that the photos uploaded are from different days. To cut down on the amount of pool flooding that has been done in the past, a limit of five photos per day has been instituted. If you happen to be unable to upload for more than five days, you can either play catch-up for multiple days until your entire set has been added to the pool or you can simply add your most recent five photos with a link to those photos that have not been added to the pool in the description.

What if I forget to take a photo for several days?

If you go several days without taking any photos, it is entirely up to you as to whether you start the project over again or just leave a gap in your set. If you decide to restart, there is no need for you to remove your old photos from the pool.

Can I just make up the missed days by taking multiple photos on one day?

No. The idea is take one photo each day. If you want to cheat yourself by 'making up' days in this manner, please just keep those photos in your set and choose one to submit to the pool. EXIF data is checked on any photos which seem to be suspicious. We understand that sometimes EXIF data can be wrong, but if you submit three photos which you claim to be taken on different days and you're wearing the same exact clothing and are sitting in the same exact chair in your house in each of the photos AND your EXIF data claims that the photos were taken mere seconds apart, we're gonna trust that data. If your EXIF is constantly wrong, perhaps you should consider changing your clothes from day to day.

Technicalities

When can I start?

Start whenever you want! You can wait until the first of the year, your birthday, or some other important date - or you can start today!

Do I have to tag my photos?

It is not required that you tag your photos; however, most members use the '365days' tag and it is highly recommended that you use that tag as well. If you're interested in seeing how some members tag their photos, a discussion thread has already been created.

Do I have to have a 365 set for my photos?

Again, this is not a requirement, but it is strongly recommended. This allows people to easily see your progression through the project.

Do I have to comment?

You are not required to comment on any photos; however, we pride ourselves on being a 'community' and you will find the 365 Days experience to be more enjoyable if you spend the time to check out and comment on other people's photos.

Is there a comment link?

People like knowing where they get their comments from. So when you do make comments, its a good idea to let people know you saw their picture in the 365 Days pool by leaving the following HTML at the bottom of your comment:

<a href="https://www.flickr.com/groups/365days/">Seen in 365 Days</a>

How do I add a photo to the pool?

First, ensure you are a member of the group - you can do this by clicking the 'Join this Group' link on the group's main page. To send your photo to the pool, simply go to your photo's page, click on the 'Send to Group' drop down menu above the photo and find 365 Days. It's that simple!

How do I add a photo to a discussion thread?

To add a photo to a discussion thread, click on the 'All Sizes' link above your photo. Select the size you would like to use (in most cases you shouldn't add anything larger than 'small' to discussion threads) and copy the information from box #1 (the html code). Then simply add that code to your post in the thread.

How do I report a photo that doesn't belong in the pool?

We have created a discussion thread for floaters (photos that don't belong in the pool). You can find that thread here. Some people aren't comfortable with publicly 'ratting out' another member. In those instances, it is perfectly fine to send a private message to an admin.

Why is there a posting limit?

A posting limit has been put into place to keep people from flooding the pool. The posting limit does not mean that you are allowed to post five photos each day - it is simply there to keep people from posting 20+ photos at one time when they return from vacation or whatever circumstances which have prevented them from being able to post their photos on a daily basis. Please review the questions under 'On Multiple Photos and Missing Days' if this is still unclear.

Additional Info

This group will count toward the photo's limit (60 for Pro members, 30 for free members)